Short Summary

Most of West Africa's beaches from Cameroun to Liberia are threatened with oil pollution if attempts to salvage the Monrovia-registered cargo ship Dora, 13,000 tons, are unsuccessful.

Description

Most of West Africa's beaches from Cameroun to Liberia are threatened with oil pollution if attempts to salvage the Monrovia-registered cargo ship Dora, 13,000 tons, are unsuccessful.

She ran aground on the night of the 22nd of August outside the entrance to Vridi canal, which connects the sea with the inland ports of Abidjan, the Ivory Coast's capital.

Tugs failed to refloat her, and on Wednesday after she had been holed by high seas a bulldozer was called in to help pull her beam on to the shore, so that her timber cargo could be off-loaded.

Experts calculated then that the ship must be turned and off-loaded within three days or the action of the surf would break her in two and spill her other cargo, heavy diesel oil, into the sea. If this is done the pollution threat may well be averted.